World Cup glory may or may not be around the corner for the Socceroos but Football Federation Australia’s
David Gallop
says the game is thriving.

“Of course we want to do well in Brazil and I think we will surprise some people," says Gallop, who was responding to a widely held perception that Australia faces a bleak time over the next few weeks due to playing Chile, Spain and the Netherlands.

But he says there is no question about how the sport is performing.

“The steepness of the game’s trajectory has been amazing. Our aim is for football to be the major sport in the country.

“It may take decades but that’s the goal."

Gallop bases his optimism on football’s capacity to connect globally. Those links with the region should only grow on the back on the Asian Cup. to be held in Australia in January next year.

But the first task is this World Cup. While cognisant of how hard it will be to proceed past the group stage, the FFA boss says coach
Ange Postecoglou
has the Socceroos primed to pose a threat to each of their more fancied rivals.

“That’s what we are expecting from them. It is a tough task but they will compete hard," says Gallop.

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Preparations for the World Cup have been under scrutiny since FIFA awarded the tournament to Brazil, which last hosted the event in 1950. The game and consequent demands on the host country have grown enormously since then.

Vitória in the state of Espírito Santo in Brazil will be the Socceroos base for the World Cup. Gallop says local officials have been very accommodating.

“They have been great. There will be logistical issues, as that is part of the deal in staging a World Cup in a place like Brazil, but we have been very happy with the support we have received."

Australia’s last game on home soil before the World Cup was a 1-1 draw with South Africa at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.

Despite the Socceroos starting strongly in that game, they fell behind early after a defensive mistake. But shortly afterwards,
Tim Cahill
levelled the score in the friendly. While many were disappointed by the result against a team that was less than full strength, Postecoglou said the tough physical preparations the Socceroos had been put through prior to the South African match had taken its toll.

Building on momentum

The Socceroos line up against Chile in Cuiabá in their opening World Cup match then face the Netherlands in Porto Alegre. Their final group match is against 2010 champions Spain in Curitiba.

Gallop expects the FFA to receive a few million dollars for taking part in the World Cup, in line with the amount generated for its coffers by the last World Cup in South Africa.

Gallop says Australia reaching its third successive World Cup maintained the momentum built through another very successful domestic A-League season.

The Brisbane Roar and the Western Sydney Wanderers – who have recently been acquired by a consortium – fought out a magnificent grand final, finally won by Brisbane 2-1 in extra time in front of their home fans at Suncorp Stadium.

“We were saying after the grand final, what a letdown if we had not qualified for Brazil, given what a wonderful A-League season it had been," says Gallop.

However, the FFA boss does not pretend that all is rosy with the domestic league.

Gallop says there are “potholes" which have to rectified before the A-League can grow to the desired 12 or 14 team structure. Those holes are the financial difficulties facing some clubs – problems which Gallop hopes will be alleviated through bigger broadcasting deals when the current rights expire.

Before the start of the next A-League season, the long-awaited FFA Cup will have been launched in July. The concept borrows from the very old and successful FA Cup formula from the UK, where a knock-out competition pits the elite clubs against those in other levels of football from around the country.

Many of the famous club names in Australian football are competing at the second-tier state level and there has been a desire to give them a chance back in the spotlight.

However, the FFA was determined its Cup competition would not commence until it was properly funded, so it held back the launch until sponsors had been arranged. “We have 32 teams in the first season but in time hundreds of clubs around the country could be involved."

Gallop is also excited by the prospect of hosting the Asian Cup in Australia next year. Featuring 16 countries from the region, the tournament kicks off in Melbourne on January 9 and the final will be played in Sydney on January 31.

It underlines Australia’s burgeoning integration into Asian football, which has long been the dream of FFA chairman
Frank Lowy
.